How long does it take to film a movie? Breaking down film timelines from script to screen
Generally, the process of movie production begins with a nerve-wracking development phase and ends with the release. However, depending on the movie, fans have been known to wait for days, months, or even years. Go beyond the movie production timeline and discover how long it takes to film a movie or series.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- The entire process of making a film or series begins with a press release or announcement.
- Filmmaking takes place in four production phases: development, pre-production, production, and post-production.
- On average, it takes between as little as a few weeks to a year or more from press announcement to film distribution.
- The scope of a series, such as episode length, the number of episodes, locations, and talent availability, influences the length of the production process.
How long does it take to film a movie?
On average, it can take several weeks, months, or even years to complete the filming of an entire film or season. The actual time spent on development relies on aspects such as production quality, complexity of scenes, availability of cast and crew, the number of episodes, and post-production requirements.
The film production process can be divided into four phases: development, pre-production, production, and post-production. Here is a breakdown of how long it takes to film a series or a movie:
How long does development take?
The development phase sets up the basis of the entire film or series. It can take anywhere between two months and a few years for you to get the green light to start production.
This is because this stage allows you to streamline your creative ideas, secure financing, and create a production plan. Below is an analysis of each step in this phase and the average time needed.
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Story creation and refinement
Creating the best movies begins with a refined storyline. At this stage, characters in the storyline are fine-tuned to create the perfect script. Highlight and refine each element of the film or series, from the cast to costumes, props, set design, make-up, stunts, special effects, music and sound effects.
This process can take any time between 60 and 90 days or longer. However, some can take days, such as the 1985 American indie film The Breakfast Club, written by John Hughes, which took two days. On the other hand, Jordan Peele took five years to streamline the screenplay for his horror film, Get Out.
Production planning and financing
Developing and streamlining the film structure refers to setting up shooting locations, permits, and assembling a crew. Most importantly, this is the stage to establish your budget.
As a filmmaker, you must find ways to secure funding through investors or crowdfunding. Time spent at this stage depends on the screenwriter's reputation and the scope of production. Other factors that can prolong this process include the number of actors, talent experience, genre, and marketability.
Press announcement
The press announcement or press release is a public relations tool needed to build public interest in a film. It gets the ball rolling for actual film production.
On average, comedy studio films take about two years between the first public announcement and the eventual release of a film. Fantasy, action, science fiction, and adventure films can take more than two or three years before release.
How long does the pre-production phase take?
The pre-production phase can take several months for blockbusters and no more than a few weeks for indie films. Donald Sparks, a filmmaker known for producing Black Panther, shed light on the phase in an interview with Studio Binder, saying;
I would say that if you were doing a very straightforward romantic comedy. A drama. The typical prep period for a first AD would be about eight weeks.
He added;
But if you're doing something much more elaborate, like Blade Runner 2049 or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I believe my prep period on those pictures was somewhere between 16 and 20 weeks.
In the pre-visualising phase, the operational work of filmmaking is planned out meticulously. Such work involves securing resources, personnel, and information by scouting locations, casting, crew hiring, and more.
How long does the production phase take?
In this phase, boots hit the ground with the best actors, directors, and crew members ready for actual filming or shooting. This production phase, also known as principal photography, takes an average of a couple of months to about two years for a movie and several months to a year or more for a series.
Films such as Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind and Richard Linklater's Boyhood have had extended production times that spanned between 16 and 48 years. On the other hand, the German crime thriller Victoria and the American horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors took 4 hours and 3 days to shoot, respectively.
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How long does it take to release a movie after filming?
On average, this process can take about six months to a year or more, depending on the scope of a film and the resources available. A full season may take at least eleven months before being released. At this stage, the time-consuming post-production workflow involves the following activities;
- Picture editing
- Sound editing
- Music scoring
- Sound mixing
- Creating visual effects
- Colour correction and grading
- Generating titles, credits, chyrons, and graphics
- Creating trailers and distribution materials
The post-production phase is an expert-heavy phase that finalises the process of filmmaking. This collaborative stage requires input from the director, editor, producer, sound editor, Foley artist, music composer, VFX artist, graphic designer, and colorist. Today, there are distribution material experts such as poster designers and trailer editors.
How long should a 2-hour movie script be?
A two-hour movie script should be about 120 pages long. This is based on the script-writing rule of thumb that one page is generally equal to one minute of screen time.
How long does it take to film a season on Netflix?
On average, a season on Netflix can take between six and ten months from announcement to release. This is dependent on the complexities of the show, such as the number of episodes, episode length, locations, talent, and resource availability.
For some Netflix films, such as season 9 of the American reality show Temptation Island, it took mere weeks to produce. In an interview with Variety, the show's executive producer, David Friedman, said;
It was a 17-or 18-day shoot. It was 17 days of production, about three and a half weeks of calendar time because there were off days in there for the crew and for the cast to decompress.
How long does it take to film a Marvel movie?
On average, it takes between 10 and 12 months to film a Marvel movie. However, drafting the film's scripts is a continuous process that runs concurrently with production. While breaking down the making of a Marvel movie, Marvel producers Jonathan Schwartz and Victoria Alonso told Vanity Fair that;
In the efficiency of time, it is especially helpful when you are storyboarding and pre-visiting, prepping, scheduling and writing all at the same time, and all those processes are happening in parallel with shooting. We are constantly in the process of conceiving, improving, and executing.
How long it takes to film a movie may vary based on several factors. While different genres tend to have similar production times, the availability of resources and filming scope can shorten or lengthen the production process.
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